Hello to all the great people on this board. As usual, I'm hoping this post finds you all in good health, or at least, feeling better. Most of you know that I'm a competitive bodybuilder, therefore, my nutrition and meals always have to be the best I can make them. First off, I want to clarify that I am not a registered dietician/nutritionist, or a physician, but I do enjoy helping others out with nutrition tips and advice. Of course, ALWAYS check with a qualified health professional before trying any of someone's, "including my," suggestions. I just would like to contribute back in some way, especially for the wonderful support that has been offered to me here.

Eating healthy is not an easy thing and sometimes, to the contrary, more expensive than eating whatever you want. I hope I can help with a few things with some suggestions. Some people might want to lose weight, some might just want to get a better nutrition intake or have a healthier heart. So below, I've offered a few ideas of meals/snacks. If anyone wants ideas for others foods/snacks, feel free to leave a message here or email me. Again, I don't want anyone to think I'm "playing doctor" here. With that said here are a couple things to start out with:

Chicken Lettuce Wraps-Cut up some boneless, skinless chicken breast into small, cubelike pieces and brown in a little olive oil, in a frying pan/skillet. Set chicken aside in a dish.-Using the pan/skillet you used for the chicken, fry some cut up strips of bell pepper. Remove bell pepper and put in dish with cooked chicken. Or just cut up washed bell pepper into strips, do not fry and leave "as is" for crunch.-Take a few, "large" pieces of fresh lettuce and lightly steam in a pot filled with just a little less than a half inch of boiling water. Steam the lettuce just enough to use it as a "wrap," since you will be filling it with the chicken/bell pepper mixture. -Chop up a few green onions and some fresh cilantro.-Lastly, take the large, lightly steamed piece/pieces of lettuce and pile the chicken/pepper mixture on lettuce, with the green onions and cilantro and roll up into a wrap. The olive oil is an excellent source of healthy fats. The chicken is high in protein and the bell peppers, cilantro and green onions are high in fiber and minerals with next to virtually no fat at all. Optionally, you could also throw in some fresh, chopped basil leaves.

Peanut Butter Ball CookiesThese can really help with a sweet tooth.-1 cup peanut butter-1 cup Splenda (sugar substitute)-1 egg white (VERY IMPORTANT!!! Use pasteurized egg whites that you buy in a small carton, that carry no risk of salmonella bacteria or other pathogens to our compromised immune systems. It's not worth risking it with raw egg whites, ever!)-3 scoops vanilla or chocolate whey, or soy, proteinMix all together. "Slightly" warm up the peanut butter before mixing with other ingredients so that the mixture isn't over powdery and won't mix. (CAREFUL! Peanut butter gets very hot and is easy to overheat! Try 10-12 seconds at a time in the microwave.) Squeeze mixture hard into ball shapes (size of sausage balls). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Done. I've found that this recipe makes about 35 balls.

Healthy Tuna CakesA good alternative to crab cakes.If your sick of plain old tuna like I am try this:-2 cans tuna, drained-3/4 cup of regular oatmeal-5 tbsp. worcestershire sauce-2 tbsp nonfat mayonnaise-few dashes of black pepperMix all ingredents in a large bowl. Make mixture into burger sized patties and place on hot skillet sprayed with Pam. Let cook on both sides until brown. Done.

Some other things I do for "cravings" is top baked potatoes with either nonfat cottage cheese and green onions, or, if you love sour cream like I do, take a little "plain" yogurt in a bowl, add in as many chopped green onions or chives as you want, add in some salt to taste. (Optional) Add just a few "drops" of vinegar to taste. Mix together and although not exactly sour cream, it tends to make a good substitute for me personally.

Obviously, not everyone may like these recipes because people have different tastes but let me know if you want substitutes or ideas for other foods/desserts, etc. and I'll work on them for any of you. My life revolves around bodybuilding, so unfortunately, I have to make enough time on my hands to come up with healthy recipes and creative alternatives and ideas. Once again, my thoughts are with you all for the best of health and take care.Always,Marco Antonio

Marco Antonio, you're awesome! What a great idea to share healthy recipes here! I found a little booklet from the NIH of heart-healthy Latino recipes, here's the link to the text:http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/sp_recip.txtAlso it's available as a PDF but takes a while to print if you want the whole thing. I echo your advice to always consider safe food handling, and thanks!

Basquo,Thanks for the response and you're very welcome. I more than appreciate the link to the heart-healthy Latino recipes, especially being from a Latin family. If you ever need any help with further recipes or ideas, feel free to leave me a message or email me. Take care of yourself and stay in good health.Always,Marco Antonio

Marco:I'm a new guy here, and this is my first post. It has been just a couple of days over 7 months since my diagnosis. I don't know if you'll see this or not, but I wanted to post a message to say "Thanks!" for the food tips. I tried two of them this evening, and I was actually impressed! The "tuna cakes" and the substitute sour cream are really good. :-) Again, thanks, and PLEASE keep the suggestions coming!!! Signed,Someone Who wants to Be Healthy

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